Parents upset over sudden closure of preschool

DEER PARK, TX (KTRK) -- Parents of children attending preschool at a Deer Park Catholic church are upset at the notice they just received regarding its imminent closure.

Those parents received a letter just last Thursday telling them the decision was made after consultation with "various parish councils" and Chancery offices at the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston. The closure is effective January 1, 2015, but with the winter break parents say that would make the final day of school December 19. That's just more than six weeks from today.

One mother tells us she called Father Reginald Samuels for more on the reasons behind the closure. She says he told her, "...he didn't owe any of us an explanation or anything like that... He said he didn't have to explain anything to me or to anybody else." That mother did not want to be identified.

Parents say it's difficult to find other options halfway through a school year. Erica Pecina says, "It put us in a panic mode. All the parents are trying to find something within two months."

No one from the church has returned our calls. When we specifically asked for Father Samuels we were told he is at a retreat this week.

St. Hyacinth Catholic Church preschool director Kathy Smith tells Eyewitness News the closure is necessary because of declining enrollment. "When there's no money, I guess they don't want to subsidize us," Smith said of the church.

Calls to the archdiocese of Galveston-Houston have so far not been returned.